Bridgeton Landfill settlement might be in jeopardy

A $6.8 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over a smoldering St. Louis County landfill could be in jeopardy.

A tentative agreement reached in April calls for Republic Services to pay an average of nearly $13,000 per household to hundreds of residents near the Bridgeton Landfill. The homeowners' suit claimed that noxious odors and an underground fire lowered property values. But the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports some residents of a subdivision near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport object because the face larger losses in property values than what they'd be paid.

A hearing to approve the settlement is scheduled in August. The case could go to trial if fewer than 95 percent of residents accept the settlement.